News headlines in July 2022, page 20

The number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, according to a new UN report that provides fresh evidence that the world is moving in reverse, away from the Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms, by 2030, when the SDGs are supposed to be realized.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday echoed strong condemnation from the Security Council and elsewhere, of the killing of two more UN peacekeepers in northern Mali.

BUENOS AIRES, Jul 06 (IPS) - For 30 years, Tomasa Chávez visited the Central Market of Buenos Aires and rummaged through the tons of fruits and vegetables that the stallholders discarded, in search of food. Today she continues to do so, but there is a difference: since 2021 she has been one of the workers hired to recover food as part of a formal program launched by the Central Market.

On Wednesday, the first day of the Women’s Euro 2022 football tournament, the United Nations launched Football For The Goals (FFTG), an initiative aimed at tapping into the power of the game to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN’s blueprint for a fairer, greener future.

LONDON, Jul 06 (IPS) - When Ceylon - now Sri Lanka - gained independence from Britain in 1948 after almost 450 years of colonial rule under three western powers, it was one Asia’s most stable and prosperous democracies.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 06 (IPS) - A 2.0 version of an ancient Biblical saying reads: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a woman to become the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The male/female ratio for the Secretary-General stands at 9 vs zero. And the Presidency of the General Assembly (PGA), the highest policy-making body at the UN, is not far behind either.

ROME / LONDON, Jul 05 (IPS) - Over the last past several decades marine fish stocks worldwide have been under intense threat. There have been many high sounding declarations and agreements to reduce catch effort, to use more environmentally friendly fishing gear, to prevent illegal fishing and to impose “closed seasons” to allow stocks to recover.

The UN human rights chief called on Tuesday for a prompt, impartial and “transparent investigation” into the deaths of at least 18 people during clashes at protests in the Uzbek region of Karakalpakstan last Friday.

UN chief António Guterres lent his support on Tuesday to international efforts to rebuild Ukraine, as a conference began in Switzerland to garner support for the war-shattered country.

BRATISLAVA, Jul 05 (IPS) - Women’s rights groups fear a new legal provision in Poland requiring doctors to collect records on all pregnancies could create what they have described as a ‘pregnancy register’ to monitor whether women are having abortions.